Is Queso Fresco Healthy? (5 Tips For Weight Loss) 

Queso Fresco is one of many popular Mexican ingredients, and if you love eating Queso Fresco, this article is right for you. Find out what goes into making this delicious Mexican cheese, the health benefits of Queso Fresco, and if it can fit into your lifestyle.

Queso Fresco is a traditional cheese used in many Mexican dishes. It literally means “fresh cheese” and is usually made with raw cow’s milk or a combination of cow’s-  and goat’s milk. It is slightly salty and tangy in taste and adds a good balance to spicy dishes. 

Although Queso Fresco is quite tasty, is it actually healthy?

Yes, Queso Fresco is a healthy dish, as it offers a balance of all three macronutrients, which translates to a suitable range of calories.

Here are five steps that explain the calorie amount in one cup of crumbled Queso Fresco, the nutrition facts and health benefits of Queso Fresco, and how to stay in shape while eating this classic Mexican cheese.

1. What Goes Into Making Queso Fresco?

2. How Many Calories Are in One Cup of Queso Fresco?

3. Is Queso Fresco Healthy and Why?

4. How to Stay in Shape Eating Queso Fresco

5. How To Increase Your Activity Level When Eating Queso Fresco

Now that we know our five steps, let’s get into the details that will help you stay in shape while enjoying some delicious Queso Fresco. 

Tip 1. What Goes Into Making Queso Fresco

To make Queso Fresco at home, doesn’t require much. All you need is cow’s milk - or a combination of cow’s and goat’s milk - vinegar, salt, and a cheesecloth. 

The traditional way of making Queso Fresco is by using raw milk but if your local grocery store doesn’t carry it, regular pasteurized, whole milk works just fine. You want to make sure you use milk from an organic source, which means it’s free of hormones and antibiotics. The reason why you want to go organic is the high amount of omega-3 fatty acid, organic milk contains. 

To make Queso Fresco, simply cook the milk so it reaches its desired temperature and then add the vinegar. Stir it a few times and let it cook for about 45 minutes. With a knife, you can break it up into curds and let it sit for 30 minutes, add some salt and transfer it to a cheesecloth. Let it drip for another 30 minutes and then mold it into a dish. 

Since it’s a classic ingredient in Mexican cuisine, you can find it in many authentic Mexican restaurants all over Los Angeles and Southern California.

Now that we know what Queso Fresco is, let’s take a look at the nutrition facts and see how many calories go inside one cup of crumbled Queso Fresco.

Tip 2. How Many Calories Are in One Cup of Queso Fresco?

Regardless of your lifestyle, it’s important to understand how many calories you need to consume daily, especially if you’d like to lose weight. 

Let’s take a look at the nutrition facts. As you can see, one cup of crumbled Queso Fresco has 360 calories with a macronutrient ratio of 4 grams of carbs, 22 grams of protein, and 29 grams of fat. 

This dish has a good ratio of all three macronutrients. And it consists of only 4 grams of carbs, which isn’t bad at all. 

If you burn more calories than you consume, then you will find yourself in a “caloric deficit” which is the only way fat loss can occur. 

Staying healthy and fit is all about calorie or energy balance, which means that you can still eat your fats and carbs, and stay in shape. The calories are actually not too bad in this dish and can be easily incorporated into your daily calorie intake, as long as you are not over-eating and are working out. 

A good rule of thumb for dieting is keeping a nice balance of macronutrients. A great ratio is sticking to 30% carbs, 40% protein, and 30% fats. 

The key aspect is to understand how many calories you need to eat in a day and to make sure not to overeat on your total calories for the day. 

If you must watch your weight you can use 2% fat milk, however, the flavor of Queso Franco is more authentic with whole fat milk

In the next section of this article, we will explain to you the health benefits of Queso Fresco and why it’s good for losing weight and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. 

Tip 3. Is Queso Fresco Healthy and Why?

Queso Fresco is a soft, mild, somewhat tangy- and somewhat salty fresh cheese that is a favorite in Mexican cuisine. It is often used as toppings for various dishes. 

It is high in calcium and packed with protein, such as casein, as well as vitamin B12, A, and D. Queso Fresco may also improve the absorption of minerals in the digestive system, as well as aid lower blood pressure. If it’s made with organic milk, it will also contain omega-3 fatty acids.

Experts suggest omega-3 may improve neurological development and function, strengthens the immune system, as well as reduce cardiovascular disease. It is also low in sodium in comparison to aged cheeses. 

Now that we know a little bit more about the nutrition facts of traditional Queso Fresco and its health benefits, let’s take a look at how you can eat Queso Fresco, stay in shape, or lose weight.

Tip 4. How to Stay in Shape Eating Queso Fresco

As we have mentioned in section two of this article, it’s important to understand how many calories you need to eat to lose weight and stay in shape. 

You can easily over-eat unhealthy, processed foods that are high in fats and carbs, especially when something is as delicious as Queso Fresco. Overeating is usually the quickest way to get out of shape. 

To stay healthy and in shape, we need to first go over your daily caloric needs and figure out how many calories you need in a day, as well as figure out how much of each macronutrient you should be consuming.

Eating one cup of Queso Fresco, in addition to any main dish, is a great way if you are looking to stay in shape. 

There are a few factors that determine your daily calorie intake. Such as weight management, weight loss, or weight gain. Other factors that play a big role, are your gender and your height. 

So, how do you know how many calories you should be eating in a day?

The answer is through trial and error and finding a calorie range that allows you to lose 1-2 pounds of fat per week. 

However, a good place to start is to multiply your body weight by 12 or to use an online TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) calculator.

Within your TDEE lies a subsection, which is called TEPA (Thermic Effect of Physical Activity) which accounts for 15-30% of your entire day’s worth of calories.

This means, you are in control of 15-30% of how much you can eat, which is a huge portion of calories.

If you’re someone who loves to eat a lot while staying fit, then the activity is the key to a balanced lifestyle that allows you to eat whatever you like, such as Queso Fresco, and stay in shape. 

Once you know your calorie intake based on your weight and height, you can then decide how much you want to decrease it. If you want to lose 1 to 2 pounds per week, we suggest you start with 100 calories less than what you are currently consuming and see if you notice a difference within a week. 

It is suggested, however, to not decrease the calorie intake below 1,200 per day for women, or below 1,500 calories per day for men.

If you don’t see any changes in your weight, decrease your calorie intake by another 100 calories and see how that works. 

Most likely, you don't have to drop your calorie intake too low, as you’ll get a pretty low number to start with this dish.

So, how do you stay in shape or even lose weight eating Queso Fresco?

As mentioned before in section two one cup of crumbled Queso Fresco has only 360 calories with macros of 4 grams of carbs, 22 grams of protein, and 29 grams of fat. You can just add this into your day and subtract this from your total daily calorie intake.

The key here is to find foods that keep you full longer and still deliver a balanced amount of macronutrients. 

You don’t want all of your calories simply coming from carbs or fats, you want there to be a balance coming from carbs, protein, and fats as mentioned in section two of this article.

So, just calculate whatever calorie range you find, and split up your calories by following those macro guidelines. 

Tip 5. How To Increase Your Activity Level When Eating Queso Fresco

After you’ve figured out how many calories you need to consume daily, you need to make sure that you increase your activity level, by exercising regularly and building muscle throughout every week. 

This can be really hard if you’re someone living in LA who has to go to work or commutes with a car majority of the time. 

The best way to incorporate some activity in your daily life is to get a gym membership and do some cardio or to go outside for a walk or run throughout your week. 

Activity throughout your day matters as you can increase your daily calorie expenditure and build muscle.

Since building muscle allows you to burn calories at rest, which means you can eat more and still lose fat.

This is really the goal of working out and is what keeps you healthy as your metabolism increases.

So if you love eating Queso Fresco, you have to make sure your activity level is higher than usual, especially if you want to lose weight. 

We talked about the importance of understanding how many calories you need to eat in a day but now it’s time to shift the focus on why calories and building muscle go hand in hand. 

Keep in mind that weight loss is really the concept of calories in vs. calories out.

If you live a sedentary lifestyle, then it’ll be much more difficult to lose weight and you’ll start to see that the number of calories you need to eat daily to shed fat is very low.

That’s why it’s important to increase your activity level at least 3 - 4 times a week if your goal is to get lean. 

The other factor that you can control is how much muscle you currently carry.

Muscle allows us to burn calories at rest which means we can burn more calories by just living life.

The fastest and most efficient way to build muscle is to learn how to do some resistance training.

You need to use weights and build muscle by doing a variety of workouts that isolate each muscle group specifically. 

Although it can be intimidating to get in shape, as it will be hard to learn and might be discouraging at the beginning, it’s definitely worth it in the long run for both your health and fitness. 

All you really need are some dumbbells, a workout bench, and gym flooring. You can start small by using your body weight, as well as dumbbells that are up to 8 lbs, however, a good start is 2 lbs to 3 lbs dumbbells. Make sure you don’t add too much weight too soon because that could result in injury if you are unfamiliar with the correct body position. It is better to start small and then increase the weight level. 

Here is a basic workout plan we’ve created, where you can get started if you are someone who hasn’t ever done a resistance training regimen.

DAY ONE: (LEGS, ABS) 

• Goblet Squats: 4 sets 20 reps (With whatever weight you can carry) 

• Walking Lunges: 2 sets 20 steps 

• Hip Thrusts: 4 sets 20 reps (Heavyweight on your stomach) 

• Jump Squats: 4 sets 20 reps 

• Stiff Leg Deadlifts: 4 sets 10 reps (Heavy, with good form) 

• Weighted Crunches: 3x35 reps

• Leg Raises: 4x25 reps 

DAY TWO: (CHEST, SHOULDERS, TRICEPS) 

• Flat Bench Press: 4 sets 10 reps (With whatever weight you can safely do) 

• Incline Fly: 4  sets 10 reps (With whatever weight you can safely do) 

• Seated Shoulder Press: 3x15 reps (you get the point) 

• Lateral Raises: 3x15

• Knee Push-Ups: 3x20 

• Tricep Rope Pushdown: 3x10 

• Tricep Seated Dips: 3x20 

DAY THREE: (FULL BODY WORKOUT) 

• Squats: 4x20 (With Weights) 

• Jump Squats: 4x20 

• Lat Pulldown: 4x20 

• Seated Rows: 3x15 (Heavy) 

• Push-Ups: 3x10 (If you can’t just do knee push-ups) 

• Lateral Raises: 3x15 (With whatever weight you can carry) 

• Bicycle Crunches: 3x35

• Planks: 2 sets of 1 minute 

We recommend working out at least three times per week in the beginning, since the resting days in between are important to build muscle. 

Although working out and building muscle takes priority, having a consistent cardio schedule can help with expediting the fat loss process as it raises the energy expended throughout your week.

There are two types of cardio that you can do in your week that will speed up the fat loss results. Those two types come from LISS (Low-Intensity Steady State) cardio and HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training) cardio. 

What you want to aim for is to burning around 1,000 calories of cardio every week through means of either LISS or HIIT. 

LISS is cardio that comes from walking or a brisk walk, you should be able to have a conversation while still building up a sweat.

HIIT cardio is intervals of a very high-intensity movement such as sprints, battle ropes, or kickboxing movements that aim to raise the heart rate quickly.

The benefit of HIIT is allowing yourself to burn calories in a shorter amount of time. 

We recommend having 80% of cardio coming from LISS while 20% comes from HIIT for optimal fat loss throughout the week.

The reason for this is because HIIT is very hard to consistently track as many of the calorie tracking devices are inaccurate. 

LISS is a much more reliable source of consistent movement and does not require rest as it does not shock the Central Nervous System the way HIIT can.

You can also do a combination of resistance training and LISS (Low-Intensity Steady State) cardio or HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training) cardio, to improve your heart health and maximize fat burn. 

If you are new to working out, building muscle will happen relatively fast, so this is great news for anyone looking to get in shape.

Working out allows you to be more flexible in your diet and lifestyle, which is so important if you want to sustain a lean body and stay healthy. 

It’s all a process of dedication and holding on for many years. 

THERE IT IS!

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